Round-Trip System Available to Measure Path Length Variation in Korea VLBI System for Geodesy

The construction project of Korea Geodetic VLBI officially started in October 2008. The construction of all systems will be completed by the end of 2011. The project was named Korea VLBI system for Geodesy (KVG), and its main purpose is to maintain the Korea Geodetic Datum. In case of the KVG system, an observation room with an H-maser frequency standard is located in a building separated from the antenna by several tens of meters. Therefore KVG system will adopt a so-called round-trip system to transmit reference signals to the antenna with reduction of the effect of path length variations. KVG s round-trip system is designed not only to use either metal or optical fiber cables, but also to measure path length variations directly. We present this unique round trip system for KVG

Experimental Infection of Dogs with Avian-Origin Canine Influenza A Virus (H3N2)

Susceptible dogs were brought into contact with dogs experimentally infected with an avian-origin influenza A virus (H3N2) that had been isolated from a pet dog with severe respiratory syndrome. All the experimentally infected and contact-exposed dogs showed elevated rectal temperatures, virus shedding, seroconversion, and severe necrotizing tracheobronchitis and bronchioalveolitis

Association between nasal shedding and fever that influenza A (H3N2) induces in dogs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Avian origin canine influenza virus was reported in Korea. The dog to dog contact transmission of the avian origin canine influenza virus (CIV) H3N2 and CIV H3N8 was shown by experimental contact transmission. This study was focused on viral excretion and fever in order to elucidate the epidemiological associations which might be helpful to control the disease transmissions in CIV outbreak in dogs.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>An influenza seronegative 10-week-old Beagle dog was experimentally inoculated with the canine influenza virus A/canine/01/2007, subtype H3N2. Eight hours after inoculation, the infected dog was cohoused with seven uninfected Beagle dogs. Clinical signs including fever were recorded for 14 days post inoculation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The infected dog and four of seven contact dogs in the study showed clinical signs (sneezing, nasal discharge and coughing) during the study. Viral shedding occurred in all of the animals tested and began on 1 to 6 DPI in dogs with clinical signs. Elevated body temperatures above 39.5°C (geometric mean temperature of 39.86°C±0.49) were observed in all symptomatic dogs. The mean viral titer during fever was 2.99 log EID₅₀/ml, which was significantly higher than the viral titer detected in the non fever.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The data show that contact dogs with a canine influenza infected dog shed different levels of virus in their nasal excretions and demonstrate that clinical signs, including fever, significantly correlate with the viral shedding.</p

The State and Development Direction of the Geodetic VLBI Station in Korea

A permanent geodetic VLBI station with a 22-m diameter antenna will be newly constructed in Korea by the National Geographic Information Institute (NGII) under the project Korea VLBI system for Geodesy (KVG) that aims at maintaining the Korean geodetic datum accurately on the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF). KVG can receive 2, 8, 22, and 43 GHz bands simultaneously in order to conduct geodetic and astronomical VLBI observations with Korea astronomical VLBI stations along with geodetic observations with IVS stations. This simultaneous four-band receiving capability is a unique feature of the KVG system. The KVG has started officially in October 2008. A new geodetic VLBI station will be constructed at Sejong city (about 120 km south of Seoul and about 20 km north-northwest of Daejeon) and construction of all systems will be completed in 2011

Synthesis of Naphthalenes via Platinum-Catalyzed Hydroarylation of Aryl Enynes

An efficient synthetic method of functionalized naphthalenes having hydrogen, alkyl, alkenyl, aryl, or heteroaryl groups on the 4-position and ethoxycarbonyl group on the 2-position was developed through selective Pt-catalyzed 6-<i>endo</i> intramolecular hydroarylation of ethyl (<i>E</i>)-2-ethynyl/alkynyl cinnamates

Evaluation of a rapid immunodiagnostic test kit for rabies virus

A rapid immunodiagnostic test kit for rabies virus detection was evaluated using 51 clinical samples and 4 isolates of rabies virus. The quick detection of rabies virus under field conditions may be helpful in determining if post-exposure prophylaxis is needed, thereby avoiding unnecessary treatments, as well as undue economic burden. There are several widely used diagnostic methods for rabies, including fluorescent antibody tests, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, and electron microscopy; however, these methods include time-consuming, intricate, and costly procedures. The rapid immunodiagnostic test was able to detect rabies virus in clinical samples, including brain tissue and saliva, in addition to 103.2 50% lethal dose (LD50)/mL cell-adapted rabies virus. The assay was not cross-reactive with non-rabies virus microbes. When the performance of the rapid immunodiagnostic test was compared to a fluorescent antibody test, the rapid immunodiagnostic test had a sensitivity of 91.7% and specificity of 100% (95.8% CI)

Transmission of Avian Influenza Virus (H3N2) to Dogs

In South Korea, where avian influenza virus subtypes H3N2, H5N1, H6N1, and H9N2 circulate or have been detected, 3 genetically similar canine infl uenza virus (H3N2) strains of avian origin (A/canine/Korea/01/2007, A/canine/ Korea/02/2007, and A/canine/Korea/03/2007) were isolated from dogs exhibiting severe respiratory disease. To determine whether the novel canine infl uenza virus of avian origin was transmitted among dogs, we experimentally infected beagles with this infl uenza virus (H3N2) isolate. The beagles shed virus through nasal excretion, seroconverted, and became ill with severe necrotizing tracheobronchitis and bronchioalveolitis with accompanying clinical signs (e.g., high fever). Consistent with histologic observation of lung lesions, large amounts of avian infl uenza virus binding receptor (SAα 2,3-gal) were identifi ed in canine tracheal, bronchial, and bronchiolar epithelial cells, which suggests potential for direct transmission of avian infl uenza virus (H3N2) from poultry to dogs. Our data provide evidence that dogs may play a role in interspecies transmission and spread of infl uenza virus

Deep-learning-based risk stratification for mortality of patients with acute myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVE:Conventional risk stratification models for mortality of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have potential limitations. This study aimed to develop and validate deep-learning-based risk stratification for the mortality of patients with AMI (DAMI). METHODS:The data of 22,875 AMI patients from the Korean working group of the myocardial infarction (KorMI) registry were exclusively divided into 12,152 derivation data of 36 hospitals and 10,723 validation data of 23 hospitals. The predictor variables were the initial demographic and laboratory data. The endpoints were in-hospital mortality and 12-months mortality. We compared the DAMI performance with the global registry of acute coronary event (GRACE) score, acute coronary treatment and intervention outcomes network (ACTION) score, and the thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) score using the validation data. RESULTS:In-hospital mortality for the study subjects was 4.4% and 6-month mortality after survival upon discharge was 2.2%. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) of the DAMI were 0.905 [95% confidence interval 0.902-0.909] and 0.870 [0.865-0.876] for the ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and non ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) patients, respectively; these results significantly outperformed those of the GRACE (0.851 [0.846-0.856], 0.810 [0.803-0.819]), ACTION (0.852 [0.847-0.857], 0.806 [0.799-0.814] and TIMI score (0.781 [0.775-0.787], 0.593[0.585-0.603]). DAMI predicted 30.9% of patients more accurately than the GRACE score. As secondary outcome, during the 6-month follow-up, the high risk group, defined by the DAMI, has a significantly higher mortality rate than the low risk group (17.1% vs. 0.5%, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS:The DAMI predicted in-hospital mortality and 12-month mortality of AMI patients more accurately than the existing risk scores and other machine-learning methods